Expansion of Lincoln County courthouse progressing

Officials hoping for August completion

In addition, during construction, the north county parking lot will continue to be closed. County employees, residents conducting business at the courthou

Posted:
03/04/2014 04:31:57 PM MST

Renovation and expansion of the Lincoln County Courthouse in Carrizozo is well underway. Officials hope the project will be completed sometime in August. (Courtesy)

Construction is underway on the 9,923-square-foot judicial and law enforcement expansion at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Carrizozo. The Lincoln County Commission narrowly approved an expenditure of $3.7 million for the expansion out of existing county funds in April of last year.

Construction began on the nearly $4 million project in August. The renovation includes the addition of an additional courtroom and jury deliberation room along with expanded office space and conference rooms for the 12th Judicial District Court.

The Lincoln County Sheriff's offices also will expand with additional workspace, records storage and interview rooms.

"Everybody will be happy with this addition to the courthouse," said District Court Judge Karen Parsons.

Courtesy
Part of the expansion of the Lincoln County Courthouse includes an additional courtroom and jury deliberation room along with expanded office space and conference rooms for the 12th Judicial District Court. The project is estimated to cost 3.7 million.

"This expands the sheriff's department, which has been in the same building since the courtroom was built," said County Planning Director Curt Temple.

"The deputies will have room to do their paperwork and there will be more administrative offices, as well as a holding cell for inmates who are waiting for a court appearance."

Because the district court staff had grown substantially with the case load, a smaller, second courtroom is being created to handle short trials, freeing up the larger courtroom for major and more lengthy trials. Windows are being added to improve customer service and a space is being created where people can sit down and fill out paperwork.

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"Stairs and ramps will be coming out the backside into the parking lot, which will be revamped with handicapped parking. Any time you add on, you have to be compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. The doors, hallways and rest rooms must be bigger. There are a lot of requirements," Temple said.

"We will have more conference rooms where lawyers can confer with clients, improved access to records, more bathrooms, enhanced security and the assessors office will even pick up much needed space," Parsons said.

The project is expected to take about a year to complete and the hopes are that it will be completed in August of this year.

"We ran into a few difficulties the first few weeks of construction with plumbing infrastructure," said James Parker, superintendent with JRP Masterbuilders. "But it has been smooth sailing since then. Weather has been on our side and we're back on schedule and on budget. Structural steel is going up now and we are weeks away from starting to enclose the building. The roof will go on in March."

"Local contractors are being used almost exclusively with only a couple of specialty subs being brought in from out of town." said Nancy Kerry with Basic IDIQ, the general contractor on the project, "When you drive by the job site you're likely to see someone you know."

The addition will extend north of the existing county complex into Brick Street, which was vacated by the town of Carrizozo. Brick Street is closed permanently and no thru traffic is allowed.